Control means for selective operation of valves



Nov, 13, 1956 T. SHERWEN 2,7m,2:49

CONTROL MEANS FOR SELECTIVE OPERATION OF VALVES Filed May 25, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet l h INVENTOR Z'f/EO SHERWEN ATTORNEY av. 13, 1956 T. SHERWEN 2,770,249

CONTROL MEANS FOR SELECTIVE OPERATION OF VALVES Filed May 25, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR Y THEO SHBQWEN ATTORNEYS CONTRQL MEANS FOR SELECTIVE OPERATION F VALVES Theo Sherwen, Norton Lindsey, England, assignor to Massey-Harris-Ferguson (Sales) Limited, a British company Application May 25, 1951, Serial No. 228,343

Claims priority, application Great Britain December 29, 1950 Claims. (Cl. 137--333) The present invention relates generally to manual control means for selective operation of valves but more specifically to a novel mechanism for effecting selective operation of a rotatable control element and a reciprocable control element.

The invention finds particular, but by no means exclusive, utility when applied to a tractor having a hydraulic power lift and a suitable control handle which is positionable to admit pressure fluid to a main hydraulic actuator or to permit fluid to be exhausted from the same. By way of example, reference may be had to the wellknown Ferguson tractor which is equipped with a hydraulic power lift of the type disclosed in Henry George Ferguson Patent No. 2,118,180, issued May 24, 1938.

it has become common to mount auxiliary equipment on such tractors, including auxiliary piston and cylinder or ram devices operated by pressure fluid from the tractor power lift system. To permit actuation of such auxiliary rams, it has been customary heretofore to provide a suitable selector valve having an individual control handle mounted in the vicinity of the main power lift control handle. Since the driver of the tractor normally has only one hand free to operate these control handles, trouble may be experienced in operating both of them correctly. In other words, it is often difficult for the driver to operate one control handle without inadvertently operating the other.

The general aim of the present invention is to provide a selective valve operating mechanism which will obviate or mitigate the disadvantages just mentioned.

A more specific object is to provide a novel manual valve control mechanism of the character set forth and which will be susceptible of incorporation into the quadrant control lever of a tractor such as the Ferguson machine.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent as the following description proceeds, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure l is a side elevation of an illustrative tractor having a hydraulically actuated front end loader, such tractor being equipped with a valve control mechanism exemplifying the present invention.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical sectional view taken axially through the selector valve of the tractor illustrated in Fig. 1 but showing in elevation the quadrant control lever and certain parts associated there with.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged broken vertical sectional view through the selector valve, such view being taken in the plane of the line 3-3 in Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary face view of the lower end portion of the quadrant control lever.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary face view of the upper end portion of the quadrant control lever.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view showing the front end portion of the loader and the hydraulic ram device for actuating its load discharging means.

nitc Stat Patmt While the invention is susceptible of various modi fications and alternative constructions, a preferred embodiment has been shown in the drawings and will be described below in considerable detail. It should be understood, however, that there is no intention to limit the invention to the specific form disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications and alternative constructions falling within the spirit and scope of the invention as expressed in the appended claims.

Referring more specifically to the drawings, the invention has been there exemplified in a novel valve control mechanism 10 which happens to be mounted on a tractor Ill of the well-known Ferguson type. The tractor 11 is equipped in this instance with a front end loader 12 which includes a pair of laterally spaced main hydraulic lifting rams 14 and an auxiliary hydraulic puslroif ram 15 (see Fig. 1). The main rams 14 are adapted to move the loader frame 16 and its load receptacle vertically, while the auxiliary ram 15 is arranged to discharge a load by moving spring biased push-off plate 18 outwardly along fork tines 19. Pressure fluid for actuating the rams 14, 15 is tapped from the hydraulic power lift of the tractor via a main conduit 2%. The latter is connected directly to selector valve 21 which is adapted to supply the right and left main rams 1d via branch conduits 22, 24, respectively. The valve 21 is also connected directly to the auxiliary ram 15 via a branch conduit 25 running along the loader frame 16. The valve 21 may be actuated selectively by control means operatively associated with the tractor power lift control and it is with such arrangement that the present invention is primarily concerned.

Considering first the power lift control, it will be noted that the tractor 11 is provided in this instance with a control lever 26 rigidly attached as by cap screws 28 to a hub 29 (Fig. 2). The latter is supported on a rotatable control shaft 30, being restrained against rotary motion relative to such shaft while permitted limited longitudinal movement thereon. Rigidly mounted on the tractor housing in proximity to the lever 26 is the familiar control quadrant 31, defining an angular swing in the neighborhood of 90 for the control lever 25.

The selector valve 21, as detailed in Figs. 2 and 3, comprises a body 32 having a longitudinal bore 34 which houses a slida-ble valve plunger 35. A seal between the plunger 35 and the bore 34 is provided toward either end of the latter as by means of resilient sealing rings 36. The bore is closed at one end by a vented cap 3'7 and at the other end by an annular cap 38 which surrounds the reduced diameter actuating stem 3'9 of the valve plunger. At its central region, the bore 3 3 communicates with the pressure fluid supply conduit 20 via a restricted passage 40. The bore 34 also communicates with the "branch conduits 22, 24 leading to the respective lifting rams 14 via al-ined passages 41, 42. The latter are longitud-uinally spaced from the passage 4% and are located to the right of the latter (as viewed in Fig. 2). Communication between the bore 34 and the branch conduit 25 leading to the push-off ram is effected by means of still another passage 44 which is spaced long-itudinal'ly from the passage 40 and lies to the left of the latter (see Fig. 2).

T he plunger 35 of the selector valve is of double spool form, comprising relatively long end lands 45, do and a somewhat narrower central land 48. The land .5 is separated from the land 48 by an annular groove 49, while the land 46 is separated from the land 48 by an annular groove 50. In operation, the valve plunger 35 may be shifted selectively into any one of three longitudinal positions in the bore 34. As illustrated in Fig. 2, the plunger 35 is in its central position wherein all communication between the conduits 20, 22, 24 and 25 is blocked off. Any pressure fluid within the rams 1'4, remains locked therein and holds the movable element of each ram in a fixed condition. When the plunger 35 is shifted to the right (as viewed in Fig. '2) so that the end of the plunger abuts against the cap 37, communication is established between the pressure fluid conduit and the branch conduit leading to the push-off ram 15. Starting at the conduit 20, the fluid path includes the restnicted passage 40, the annular groove .49, the passage 44, and the branch conduit 25. At the same time, the passages 41, 42 and the lifting ram conduits 22, 24 remain blocked. Accordingly, pressure fluid may be admitted to or exhausted from the push-oft ram 115 to actuate the same but the movable elements of the lifting rams 14 will remain fixed. When, on the other hand, the plunger 35 is shifted from its central position to the left (as viewed in Fig. 2) so that the annular shoulder between the land 45 and the stem 39 abuts against the cap 38, communication is established between the pressure fluid conduit 20 and the branch conduits 2'2, 24 via the passage 44), the annular gnoove 50, and respective ones of the passages 41, 42. At the same time, the passage 44 and the push-off ram conduit will remain blocked. Under these conditions, pressure fluid may be admitted to or exhausted from the lifting rams 14 to actuate the same while the movable element of the push-off ram 15 remains fixed.

Provision is made for effecting selective operation of the valve 21 by means carried on the quadrant control lever 26 of the tractor and regardless of the angular position of the lever 26. This is accomplished by incorporating into the quadrant control lever 26 an auxiliary control linkage 51 having a connection With the selector valve plunger 35, such connection being unaffected by angular movement of the lever 26. In the present instance, the control lever 26, which has the usual form of a flat plate with tapered edges, is modified by providing it with a central slot 52 which extends down from the top and opens into a larger aperture 54 toward the hub end of the lever (see Figs. 4 and 5). A bearing block 55 is rigidly attached to the free end of the lever 26 and a second bearing block 156 is fixed to the latter at the upper end of the aperture 54. The bearing blocks 55, 56 have a lined central bearing holes which are also disposed in ali-nement with the slot 52. Journaled within the bearing holes of the blocks 55, 56 and extending longitudinally of the slot 52 and the aperture 54 is a control rod 58. The lower end portion of the rod 58 has a crank offset 59 defined thereon, the latter terminating in a ball element 60. At its upper end, the rod 58 has rig-idly attached thereto an asymmetrical control knob 61 which is somewhat torpedo-shaped. 'I he knob 61 is cradled in an appropriate support block 62 which abuts against the upper bearing block 55.

For the purpose of defining a number of positions of rotational adjustment for the knob 61 and the control rod 58, a suitable detent means is utilized. In the present instance, such means comprises a V-shaped ridge 64 on the bottom of the support block 62 and which is adapted to engage selectively either one of two complementary grooves 65, 66 lying at right angles to each other and located in the top face of the upper bearing block '55. To facilitate engagement between such members, a compression spring 68 is interposed between the lower hearing block 56 and a collar 69 fixed to the lower end portion of the rod member 58, the spring 68 being disposed in surrounding relation with the latter (see Figs. 2 and 4). The control knob 61 is so related to the crank oifset 59 that when the knob is positioned with its major axis transverse to the plane of the lever 26 (as shown in Fig. 2), the ball element 60 will lie in the plane of the lever 26. By the same token, a 90 rotation of the knob 61 in either direction will cause the ball element 60 to move to one side or to the other side of the general plane of the lever 26. In other words, the ball ele- 4 ment will move transversely to the path of rotation of the lever 26. Thus thnee distinct positions of the ball element 60 are selectively obtainable.

In order to correlate the three selective positions of the knobs 61 and ball element 60 with the three operative longitudinal positions of the valve plunger 35, and to do so regardless of the angular position of the lever 26, the selector valve 21 is mounted with its plunger 35 disposed in coaxial relation with the quadrant lever control shaft and a universal connection is interposed between the plunger and the ball element 60. As to the coaxial relation between the plunger 35 and the shaft 30, it will be noted that this is accomplished by mounting the selector valve 21 upon a properly proportioned supporting bracket 70. The latter may be secured to the tractor casing as by means of cap screws 71 and may be fixed to the selector valve body 32 as by means of cap screws 72. With regard to the connection between the valve plunger 35 and the ball element 60, it will be perceived upon reference to Fig. 2 that this is effected by the use of a link 74 having a universal joint connection 75 with v the stem 39 of the valve plunger and a swivel socket connection 76 with the ball element 60. The link 74 may include means for adjustably varying its length and the socket connection 76 may be designed for clip-on engagement with the ball element 60.

By reason of the structure just described, angular movement of the quadrant control lever 26 will result in movement of the link 74 in a conical path without shifting the valve plunger 35 axially, This holds true regardless of the selected angular position which the control knob 61 might occupy relative to the lever 26, assuming that the knob 61 is not rotated during the course of such angular movement of the lever 26. If, however, the tapered control knob 61 should be rotated relative to the lever 26, a corresponding axial movement of the valve plunger 35 will take place regardless of the particular angular position of the quadrant control lever 26 and its shaft 30.

In operation, the quadrant control lever 26 may be rocked fore and aft between a lift position wherein pressure fluid is supplied to the tractor power lift system and a drop position wherein fluid is drained from such system. Since the supply conduit 20 is connected to tap into the power lift system, it will be appreciated that the lever 26 may readily be manipulated to admit pressure fluid to the supply conduit 20 or to permit fluid to be drained therefrom. With the lever 26 in the desired position, the selector valve 21 may then be actuated by rotating the knob 61 relative to the lever 26 so as to admit pressure fluid to or exhaust fluid from selected ones of the rams 14, 15, thereby accomplishing the desired operational movements of the loader.

Upon reflection, it will be perceive-d that there has been provided a valve control means which adequately fulfills the objectives set forth earlier herein. For actuation of the main quadrant control lever 26, the knob 61 need only be pulled or pushed fore and aft. On the other hand, for actuation of the selector valve 21, the knob 61 has to be rotated relative to the lever 26, an operation which requires a distinctly different action by the driver. In addition, the selector valve 21 can readily be disconnected and removed, leaving only the knob 61 and rod element 58 remaining permanently on the quadrant control lever.

I claim as my invention:

1. A manual control mechanism for operating a rotatable control elernent and a reciprocable control element disposed in substantially coaxial but axially spaced relation with each other, said mechanism comprising the combination of a main control lever attachable to the rotatable control element in fixed relation therewith, a control rod mounted for bodily movement with said main control lever but fully rotatable relative to the same, a 'manual gripping member on the outward end of said control rod, means .on said main control lever including a detent for defining various angular positions of said rod, a crank offset in said rod at the end opposite said manual gripping member and spaced from said axis, a link interposed between said offset and the reciprocable control element, and universal connection means disposed between said link and the reciprocable control element for permitting reciprocating movement to be imparted thereto regardless of the angular position of said main control lever.

2. A manual control mechanism for operating a notatable control shaft and a reciprocable control element spaced from each other along a common axis, said mechanism comprising the combination of a main control lever fixed to the control shaft and adapted to impart angular movement to the latter, a control rod mounted for bodily swinging movement with said main control lever, said control rod also being recessed within said control lever for 360 rotation relative to said control lever, and a connecting link interposed between said control rod and the reciprocable control element, said connecting link being disposed obliquely in a fixed attitude relative to the common axis of said control shaft and said reciprocable control element for each position of relative movement between said control rod and said control lever regardless of the angular position of the latter, said connecting link being ineffective to actuate said reciprocable element during said bodily swinging movement only but being effective to actuate said reciprocable element during said relative notation of said control rod.

3. For use on a tractor having a hydraulic power lift and a manual control shaft for actuating the same, the combination comprising a manual control lever fixed to said control shaft for bodily rotation about the axis there of and being disposed generally radially to such axis, a selector valve, a valve plunger in said selector valve coaxial with said control shaft disposed for reciprocation along and rotation on said axis, a manual control knob mounted for bodily movement with said manual control lever as well as independent and fully rotatable movement with respect to said control lever, and a connecting linkage interposed between said control knob and said selector valve plunger, said linkage being ineffective to actuate said valve plunger during said bodily movement only but effective to actuate said plunger during said independent rotatable movement.

4. For use with the quadrant control means of a tractor having a hydraulic power lift, the combination comprising a quadrant control lever having a longitudinal slot therein, a spring loaded rod disposed Within the longitudinal slot of said quadrant control lever, an operating knob fixed to the outer end of said rod, means for yieldably retaining said rod in various selected angular positions, a crank offset at the opposite end of said rod, said longitudinal slot of said control lever providing clearance for full rotation of said crank offset, and universal link means connecting said crank offset and a slidable valve plunger disposed in coaxial relation with the rotational axis of said quadrant control lever.

5. For use with the quadrant control shaft of a tractor having a hydraulic power lift, the combination comprising a quadrant control lever, a selector valve having a slidable plunger disposable in coaxial relation with the control shaft, a control rod mounted on the quadrant control lever for rotary movement relative to the same and also for bodily swinging movement therewith, an asymmetrical operating knob fixed to the outer end of said control rod, engageable detent members on said control rod and said control lever respectively for establishing predetermined angular positions of said rod with respect to the control lever, spring loading means for yieldably retaining said rod in various selected angular positions relative to the quadrant control lever, a crank offset at the opposite end of said rod terminating in a ball element, a connecting link having one end swivelly attached to said ball element, and a universal joint disposed between the opposite end of said connecting link and said slidable valve plunger.

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